VIRGINIA BEACH — As cleaners Tori Zeiber and Jessica Lundy worked during a recent Friday morning, they were all smiles as they chatted with Jennifer and played with her dogs.
While cleaning is a part of Zeiber and Lundy’s day-to-day work, this assignment, like several others, is a little different.
Jennifer is battling cancer and could use the extra hands.
The cleaners’ services were provided through a partnership between their employer, Two Maids and a Mop, and Cleaning for a Reason, a non-profit organization that connects women with cancer with local cleaning companies that provide their services free of charge.
After teaming up with the non-profit in April, the cleaning company began donating two-hour cleaning sessions to patients like Jennifer, who was diagnosed with stage 1 cervical cancer in January.
According to Jennifer, being able to have her house cleaned free of charge was a “Godsend.”
“It really means a lot,” Jennifer said. “With your energy level being so dramatically changed after the first couple rounds of chemo and radiation it really takes a lot out of you,” she said. “It is really awesome to be able to … and my husband to be able to … come home and see a clean house and not have to sweep or take the trash out.”
As Zeiber and Lundy cleaned around Jennifer’s bedroom and bathroom, they both expressed the joy of being able to help clients battling cancer brought them.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to help people who need to focus on other things,” Lundy said. “Their health is their first priority, and if we can help them, that’s just a great thing.”
For Zeiber she felt great leaving a clean home for patients and removing one more thing from their list of things to do around the house.
“I like the fact that I can actually come in and help since I can’t physically help them in other ways,” Zeiber said.
That feeling doesn’t just resonate with the cleaners and clients, however, it also hits home for Lee Sheridan, owner of Two Maids and a Mop in Virginia Beach.
For Sheridan, the feeling from coming home to a clean house went a long way when he worked in the insurance industry.
Between his time in the office, traveling, and other aspects of his job, Sheridan worked an average of 60 hours a week.
After 20 years of that grind, he decided to get out of insurance and go a different route that would allow him to see his family more and sleep in his bed every night.
That change of pace led him to buy his own cleaning franchise.
“When I started looking for what I wanted to do, this concept really made sense to me because it’s a pay-for-performance system,” Sheridan said. “It was a service that we relied on in our home because we were just never there.”
Utilizing client feedback to gauge performance and satisfaction, Sheridan said the amount his employees make is impacted by the rating that the client provides, offering an incentive to go above and beyond with their customer service.
“We’re a customer service company that just so happens to clean houses,” he said.
According to Sheridan, the work his company does with Cleaning for a Reason is a refreshing change that allows them to do more than writing a check to an organization
“This is one of those things that is done and it’s a tangible service,” he said. “You go in and the house needs to be cleaned. You leave, and the house is cleaned.”
Sheridan’s employees don’t just clean the homes during the sessions, however. They also spend time chatting with the patients and building a connection with them — developing a rapport in the process.
The experience is impactful for all parties involved, according to Sheridan, who said that he has had family members and friends who’ve fought cancer.
With two daughters, a wife, two sisters, and his mother, Sheridan said the thought of a woman he loves being diagnosed with cancer is one of the biggest fears he has.
“I lost an aunt to cancer, a grandmother to cancer, and you don’t have to look far, and that’s what I think makes it very personal not only to me, but it’s one of the reasons why some of the people who work for me decided that this was a place they want to work. They don’t have to look far to see where they may have been impacted by it.”
Editor’s note: After this article was published, Jennifer requested her last name be removed from the story.
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